Finding Food: Mink, Beaver, Ground Squirrel and the Gangly Gossling

What do all living things have in common?  Many things, but most certainly a need for food.  I set up a trail cam  over a stash of beaver sticks hoping to catch the beaver on video.  Well, a great assortment of other creatures turned up – all looking for food – but no beaver.

I was very excited to see a mink on the video capture.  I have seen muskrat here and the mink may have been searching for a nice tasty muskrat.  Sometimes mink will den up in an old muskrat den and there is a den nearby – mink or muskrat den?

I had seen a Columbia Ground Squirrel earlier in the season before most of this area was flooded.  I had wondered whether ground squirrels could swim!  But here is a ground squirrel – happily looking for food on a piece of land surrounded by water.  Hmmmm…did it swim?  or does it live there in some as yet un-flooded burrow?

I know.  Not everyone likes Canada Geese, but the geese here in the park are wild and have to earn their food.  I consider it a coup when I get close enough to photograph a goose family.  The trail cam has captured goslings before but this particular gosling was finding food on the pile of beaver sticks too.

And finally, the beaver – captured by the trail cam at the other end of this little piece of flooded land – not near the beaver stash!  Finding food and ambling along in a beaver-like way in the dark.  I would love to see a beaver kit here!

The official start of summer is not far off.  It may seem like we have waited forever for summer weather but time is fleeting.  There is little time  to find food and feed  hungry young.  We may be waiting for summer, but the animals know the growing season has long been here.